I am also mostly here in reader mode. I find the forum inspiring, hilarious and occasionally stomach turning. Living in a suburb of a regional city in Australia and interacting with almost no-one except for the parents at my child's' school is not inspiring or hilarious but can be stomach turning, so having this safe house for my mind is a relief.

I have fun with Whitechapel. Glad it's here. I really appreciate the range of tastes and talents around here. I knew about The Engine, but never got around to logging on. Once upon a time, I was deeply into the private, dial-up BBS thing (circa 1990), where I first met some comics writers and a bunch of musicians and radio people. Got to access GEnie for free as long as I helped keep the Music forum moving. Back when modems had hamsters inside them to power up, and data was so slow it often moved backwards.

This is also an excellent antidote for nine-hour days spent languishing in cubicle capitalism.

I've avoided posting on forums like the plague until now, to be honest. I usually lurk on a forum before deciding to introduce myself and post, and this is the first I've come across where a flame war hasn't erupted, nor has the WAAAAAHmbulance been called. The superhero remake and weekly listening threads provide much entertainment, and as long as nobody hates the sight of me I'll be happy to continue posting.

I think it probably goes without saying how much I appreciate this place. At least, given the sheer amount of time I spend here.

The two largest groups of people I keep in contact with through Facebook and Twitter are people back home in Fargo, and people from WC. This place keeps me sane, it lets me vent, it lets me look at neat art, find new music, and interact directly with people I'd probably simply stammer at in real life. (I know Uncle Warren is, in fact, warm and cuddly in real life, but that wouldn't stop me from being at a loss to not look like a bigger idiot than I am in textspace.) (Jesus that sentence is a mess.) I walk the line near the eels now and then, but I'm generally smart enough to back off when I'm told.

The appeal is, I think, that we actually are such a diverse group of people. We don't have everything for everyone, but there's a little bit of something for most people. And I like that Warren and Ariana foster that environment. Let the people do what they want, unless they're being arseholes, in which case swoop in and mercilessly smite them.

I know that I'm not exactly one of the old guard here. I wasn't around for WEF or The Engine or any previous incarnation of this community and these people. But I've been around since Freakangels 0001, and it's been long enough that I don't think I'd be too opposed to hanging out with anyone, although I might not trust some of you shifty bastids. But I'd probably still drink with y'all. And perhaps engage in hijinks and shenanigans.

Anyway, enough with the love-in from me. There's no hugging in Whitechapel.

The best thing about Whitechapel is that it gets me off my ass and makes me work. Instead of siting around pulling my prick, I put my ass in the seat, I put my fingers on the keys, and I get to work, because I feel as though not doing that is an insult to the brilliant, creative people who post here. So thank you all for that.

And once I get my new komputorr, I'll be back lurking in the chatroom.

I really don't "take advantage" of this forum as I should—when I say "take advantage," I don't mean I should "use it" in order to find several new best friends or croon about my own crap, but just to like, shoot the shit, you know? I have several thoughts/ideas/questions that I often dismiss straight away because I fear it's probably "already been covered to death at White Chapel."

I try to rein in my sappy love-musings for this place most of the time. I think this thread is just encouraging me...While I do have a handful of friends out in the real world, THIS is where I've met most of the people I consider my friends. I did almost zero socializing on the internet before I discovered Whitechapel (and I don't even remember how; I think I was aware of it opening, but being too scared to even look for months), but now... I talk to quite a few Whitechapelers on Twitter, I've added some on Facebook... people I've never met outside a computer.I may be wrong, but I feel like coming out of my e-shell here has helped me be less nervous in the meatspace.I hope I'm right about that.I thank you all, especially Warren and Ariana.

@racingpenguinsI'm sorry you are in Tampa...I lived in the Sarasota/Bradenton area for 4 years while I went to grad school.Worse years of my life. Happy to be back in liberal, atheist and artsy Northern California. Best of luck.

I'll toss in my two cents: These forums keep me honest; because when I've been involved with other art-based online communities, they've been either echo chambers or traps waiting to be sprung for someone who steps wrong. While I do get a lot of praise and encouragement here for the art I do, I've also gotten told to shut up, fly straight and follow rules, which honestly all came at the right times. The key is that what I get from the community of creatives that hang out here is not just mindless ass-kissing, but people really hungry for what's best. My first exposure to all this was The Engine, and I like what this has been allowed to become over time as well. But hands down, it's forced me to produce better art, better thinking and better reach for things I had no idea I wanted to know more about.

Vague point being: message boards were the point of connection. And Whitechapel's been no different: not for me, but for you. Hell, we already have our first married couple that met through Whitechapel.

That stuff always tickles my fancy at least a little. I know a whole slew of couples who met through CBR, and two of them have even reproduced.

Oddly, the son from the second union bears a striking resemblance to Jonah Weiland.